2014 and Pac-12 play has arrived for Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffs open conference play tonight at 8 p.m. (MT) against Oregon State at the Coors Events Center in Boulder. The Buffs enter Pac-12 play with a #20 national ranking after going 11-2 in non-conference play.
CU has one of the most difficult schedules in the country, and now has an RPI that is 8th highest in the country. The Buffs' RPI is the highest in the Pac-12, with #1 Arizona's coming in at 10th best, and #10 Oregon holding onto the 12th highest RPI.
Oregon State comes to the Foam Dome with eight wins in twelve games so far this season. None of the games were against teams ranked in the AP top 25. The road to conference play was more rigorous for the Buffs. Their season has already included games against #7 Oklahoma State, # 9 Baylor (both losses), and a win against a then-ranked #6 Kansas.
Since Boyle took over as head coach for the CU program, the Buffs have a stellar 53-7 record at home. One of those losses, however, came last year when the OSU Beavers came to Boulder last March and handed the Buffs a stunning upset loss just two days after Colorado had destroyed a highly regarded Oregon team by 23 points.
Heading into tonight's game, Boyle hopes the memory of that game prevents the Buffs from taking the Beavers lightly. The Buffs hope to be 1-0 in Pac-12 play when the #10 Oregon Ducks take the court on Sunday.
Junior Spencer Dinwiddie leads the Buffs in scoring (15.8) and assists (3.8). Sophomore center Josh Scott leads the Buffs in rebounding (9.2) and is 2nd in scoring (13.1).
Roberto Nelson leads the Beavers with 21.4 points and 4.1 assists per game. Devon Collier averages 18 points per game and also leads the Beavers with 8 rebounds per game.
Oregon State looks to be boosted by the return of star center/forward Eric Moreland, who is returning from a suspension that has kept him off the court all season. Last year, Moreland was one of the top rebounders in the country with 10.6 per game. He also set an Oregon State record for blocked shots with 73 and scored nearly 10 points per game.
Moreland was supposed to be suspended for several more games, but coach Craig Robinson decided that Moreland should come back now after "fulfilling" all the requirements of the suspension. Some pundits point out that political rationalizations run deep in the Beaver coach's life as brother in law to President Barack Obama. After all, they say, isn't sitting out 14 games the only way to truly "fulfill" a 14 game suspension?
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